Photonic processors are promising candidates for solving tough mathematical problems. Nature Photonics asked Yoshihisa Yamamoto, director of the Physics and Informatics Laboratories at NTT Research in USA, about the progress that is being made in realizing coherent Ising machines (CIMs).

The 2023 Nobel prizes in physics and chemistry have been awarded to important discoveries and developments in photonics-related research.

Now, Urban Senica and co-workers from ETH Zurich, Switzerland report an efficient broadband terahertz (THz) QCL that operates in the 2–4 THz region and generates a frequency comb spanning 800 GHz. To boost the efficiency of operation the device makes use of an inverse-designed end facet reflector coupled to a surface-emitting patch array antenna (APL Photon. 8, 096101; 2023). As a result, the QCL is

“Each device corrects for a single Zernike mode,” explained the Oxford team. “However, as they operate in transmission, we expect that it would be relatively easy to stack multiple devices into the same optical path for correction of multiple modes, or correct the same mode with polarization independence.”

Vladimir Zakharov was a man of a strong passion and grand intellect, who was equally and deservedly proud of both his scientific achievements and his poetry.

Allen Weeks, Director General of the Extreme Light Infrastructure European Research Infrastructure Consortium, talks to Nature Photonics about the founding and future of the high-power-laser facilities, and stimulating a resurgence of physics in new EU member countries.

Photonics enables the design of ultrafast, energy-efficient computing approaches for artificial intelligence, and key to the scalability of such approaches is photonics integration.

Photothermal spectroscopy measures the absorption spectra of materials by recording the wavelength-dependent heat generated upon the absorption of light. A heat sink converts the absorbed heat into a measurable quantity, such as an electrical signal in the case of thermoelectric sensors. The sensitivity of the technique critically depends on the thermal capacitance of the sensor, as this determines

Now, Fanglin Bao and colleagues at Purdue University and Michigan State University in the USA, have demonstrated a thermal-based sensing approach whose night-time imaging quality (depicted in the image) is more akin to daytime RGB images than to conventional night vision (Nature 619, 743–748; 2023). In their work, titled ‘Heat-assisted detection and ranging’, or HADAR, the team exploited emissivity

Light sheet microscopy offers rapid 3D imaging of biological specimens while limiting photodamage. Nature Photonics spoke with Elizabeth Hillman of Columbia University about its capabilities, promising applications and present limitations.

The interaction of terahertz waves with novel materials is bringing rich physics and new opportunities for applications.

Mansoor Sheik-Bahae, an exceptionally inventive scientist who made important contributions to nonlinear optics, optical refrigeration and laser science, passed away in July 2023, aged 67. He will be cherished for his sharp intellect, good humour, warm heart and the scientific legacy he leaves.

The nHGLA was composed of an array of microring lasers (pictured) based on 200-nm-thick InGaAsP multiple quantum wells. The inner radius and the width of the microrings were 3 μm and 600 nm, respectively. To introduce asymmetric coupling between nearest-neighbour microring cavities, they were connected with spiral-shaped coupling arms.

Activity in using photonics for subsea wireless communications and power generation is starting to make waves.

The laser community returned to Prague to celebrate science and to be connected, in person, again, while high-power lasers were in the limelight.

Optics is now going beneath the waves to give remote-operated vehicles and divers fast optical wireless data links. Nature Photonics spoke with Boon Ooi from KAUST, a leading researcher into underwater photonics research.